Restrictions on import of products made of plastic

Extended Producer Responsibility for plastic packaging: phased EPR targets, import prohibitions on listed single-use plastics and centralized registration required.

Restrictions implement amended Plastic Waste Management Rules by prohibiting specified single-use plastic items from manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use from 1 July 2022 (compostable-plastic exception), increasing minimum carry-bag thickness and requiring registration of producers, importers and brand-owners on a CPCB centralized portal. Category-wise EPR targets, recycling minima, end-of-life disposal rules and mandatory recycled-content percentages are phased in; obligations include Action Plans, annual returns with certified recycling evidence, trading and carry-forward of surplus EPR certificates, and imposition of environmental compensation for non-compliance.